forest watch
forest watch
Alabama’s National Forests are federal public lands managed by the U.S. Forest Service under the direction of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Since our founding in 1991 as the Bankhead Monitor—through our evolution as Wild Alabama, Wild South, and once again Wild Alabama—Forest Watch has remained at the core of our mission. Our forest protection work began with Forest Watch as a critical tool for safeguarding Alabama’s last wild places, and it continues to guide our advocacy today.
Wild Alabama actively monitors Forest Service activities to ensure compliance with the 2004 Forest Revision Plan for National Forests in Alabama and to promote management practices that align with sound restoration principles. Our goal is the protection and recovery of healthy, intact ecosystems across Alabama’s public lands.
This work includes ongoing participation on the Bankhead Liaison Panel, on-the-ground monitoring (“ground-truthing”) of timber sales and management activities, submitting public comments on proposed policies and projects, and responding to concerns raised by forest visitors and community members.
Through Forest Watch, Wild Alabama serves as a vigilant advocate for responsible, science-based stewardship of our National Forests.
Forest Watch Updates
Mar 31, 2026
The Past, Present and Future of The Roadless Rule
In this special episode, The Wild Idea brings its recent public webinar directly to podcast listeners.
Join a high-powered panel of scientists, attorneys, policy veterans, and conservation advocates to examine one of the most consequential federal land protection policies in American history: the 2001 Roadless Rule. The rule has shielded 58.5 million acres of largely intact national forest land from new road construction and most commercial timber harvest for more than two decades, and it now faces a proposed rescission.
